CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball nearly overcame a 22-point deficit but came up just short in an 80-77 loss to Minot State University Sat., Jan. 20 at Lysaker Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles had a last second shot as Alan Hodge (Jr., G, Dallas, Texas) put up a three-pointer following a crucial steal. The shot bounced off the back of the rim, putting Minnesota Crookston just short of sending the game into overtime.

The Golden Eagles were down 22 (48-26) with 14:13 remaining in the game and were down 18 with five minutes left in the game. Minnesota Crookston turned it on down the stretch as they out-scored Minot State 29-17 in the final five minutes but they fell just short to the Beavers.

The Golden Eagles fall to 8-12 (5-9 NSIC) with Saturday's loss. Minnesota Crookston remains on their best start in the program's time in NCAA Division II, which has been since 1999. The Golden Eagles are just one win shy of tying the most wins in program history, which was set with nine wins in 2000-01. Minnesota Crookston is now in a tie with Bemidji State University for fifth place in the NSIC North. The Golden Eagles have now lost six-straight since having three-straight wins to conclude the 2017 calendar year.

Minot State improves to 17-3 (11-3 NSIC) with Saturday's win. The Beavers came into the weekend receiving 18 votes in the NABC Division II poll.

"That first 10 minutes put us in a tough spot that was tough to come back from," said Head Coach Dan Weisse. "I am proud of our guys with how they battled back down the stretch. My message was in the locker room was if you take that last 10 minutes of the second half and play a full 40 minutes where we have that type of energy and passing and playing together, then we are going to do some good things. We just need to keep learning. We are a completely different team than we were three or four weeks ago. We have had some injuries and we have a new player with Josh Collins. Josh is doing a great job but we are still trying to figure out his role. It all starts in practice and we just have to focus on getting better as a team and it starts over again Monday."

Minnesota Crookston looked to Harrison Cleary (So., G, Oak Creek, Wis.), who came close to a triple-double as he had 34 points, eight points and eight rebounds. Cleary's 34 points was the second-most he scored all season. Cleary was 11-of-18 from the field, 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line.

Hodge came off the bench for 12 points on 4-of-13 from the field. Gable Smith (R-Jr., F/C, Lodi, Wis.) added 10 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Josh Collins (Jr., F, Minneapolis, Minn.) chipped in 10 points, while Gabrys Sadaunykas (R-Fr., G/F, Vilnius, Lithuania) chipped in six points.

The Golden Eagles were 26-of-60 for 43.3 percent from the field. Minnesota Crookston was 8-of-25 for 32.0 percent from beyond the arc. The Golden Eagles were 17-of-20 from the charity stripe for 85.0 percent.

Minot State had five players score in double-figures on the night. The Beavers looked to the play of David Akibo, who had a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds. Akibo was 9-of-14 from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Tyler Rudolph, the league's second-leading scorer to Cleary, added 17 points on 8-of-16 from the field. Russ Davis chipped in 16 points. Luis Ricci Maia added 11 points and seven assists, while Nathaniel Moore came off the bench for 12 points.
The Beavers had a strong shooting night as they were 29-of-54 for 53.7 percent, while they were 6-of-15 for 40.0 percent from beyond the arc. Minot State shot 16-of-21 for 76.2 percent from the foul line.

Minnesota Crookston started the game on a 6-0 run guided by four points from Smith. The Golden Eagles moved their lead to 9-2 on an old-fashioned three-point play from Cleary. Minot State countered with an 8-0 run as they took the lead 10-9 on an Akibo three-pointer. Minnesota Crookston took the lead back with a triple from Cleary to make it 12-10. The Beavers responded with a 6-0 run as they took the lead back 16-12 on a Moore jumper.

The Golden Eagles were able to close within 18-17 on a Cleary trey with 9:55 remaining. Minot State was able to fend off Minnesota Crookston as Moore hit a basket and Akibo hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it 26-17. The Golden Eagles used free throws from Collins and Ben Juhl (Fr., G, Clive, Iowa) to pull back within 26-21 with 4:45 left in the half. Minot State went into the locker room with a 32-25 advantage on Minnesota Crookston.

The Golden Eagles were led by Cleary in the first half with 11 points and five rebounds. Smith chipped in six points and four rebounds.

Minot State looked to Akibo in the first half with 17 points and six rebounds. Rudolph was held to just five points as the Beavers' leading-scorer was limited defensively by the play of Collins.
Minot State started the second half on a 12-0 run as Minnesota Crookston came out flat for the first five minutes of the second half. The Beavers were led by six points from Rudolph and four points from Davis. The Golden Eagles finally got on the scoreboard with 14:54 remaining as Hodge hit a free throw. The Beavers pushed their lead out 22 on a Ricci Maia basket. Minnesota Crookston finally got going in the second half with an 8-0 run ignited by three-pointers from Cleary and Hodge to pull within 48-34 with 11:50 left in the game.

The Beavers came back with a 4-0 run of their own following buckets from Ricci Maia and Rudolph as they moved their lead back out to 17 points with 10:31 left in the game. An old-fashioned three-point play from Cleary pulled the Golden Eagles within 14 points, but Minot State came back with a three-point play of their own from Davis to make it 55-38. Minnesota Crookston responded with a 4-0 run led by jumpers from Cleary and Collins to pull within 55-42. The Beavers fought back again, this time with a 4-0 run as they pushed their lead back out to 17 points with 7:42 left in the game.

Minnesota Crookston would find themselves down 18 points with 5:18 left following a Ricci Maia three-pointer. That is when the Golden Eagles got going with a 4-0 run to cut the lead down to 66-42 with 3:59 remaining. The Beavers pushed the lead back out to 16 with a Moore jumper, but Minnesota Crookston responded quickly with three-pointers from Cleary and Hodge to pull within 68-58. Sadaunykas would hit a three to pull the Golden Eagles within single-digits at 68-61 with 2:45 left in the game. The Beavers stopped the run and extended their lead back out to 10 on an Akibo three-pointer. However, Minnesota Crookston didn't go away as they would be able to pull within three points on a Cleary triple.

The Beavers fought back with free throws from Moore to push the lead out to 79-74 with 20 seconds left. Collins made a quick basket to pull within 79-76. Moore hit 1-of-2 free throws to put Minot State up 80-76. With five seconds left Hodge would go to the foul line where he hit 1-of-2. Hodge then stole the ball from Ricci Maia and jumped back behind the three-point line where he put up a last second shot. The shot was on target but went off the back rim as the Golden Eagles just fell short of overtime.

The Golden Eagles will return to action Fri., Jan. 26 at Minnesota State University at 8 p.m.